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get back to work. Perhaps we could help. There are an awful lot of us. If we broke up into groups, and you assigned an English-speaking person to each group, we could be shown what it is you do here and give you a hand."
    Duncan smiled broadly. "That's a fine idea, young lady. Lots of strong backs. Must work to eat. Must eat to work." He called five men forward and repeated Tarla's suggestion.
    "I'll take the women and go with Duncan," Tarla stated. "We nurses are known for our endless patience." Her remark won a smile from the major but Logan had an objection.
    "You'll take ten men with you too," he said while his eyes scanned the crowd for candidates.
    Tarla automatically bristled at his authoritative tone. He had no right to give her orders. "That won't be necessary."
    Logan's gaze slid to hers and held. "I say it is."
    Tarla lifted her chin, crossed her arms and pretended she wasn't a full head shorter than him. "Listen up, McKay. That evil-eye of yours may work on the men but it doesn't intimidate me one bit."
    Geoffrey cleared his throat before Logan could counter. "I believe the sergeant made a valid suggestion, Captain. If what Duncan said is true, and these men haven't seen women for years, there's no telling what difficulties you might encounter. My recommendation would be to select ten of your patients. They would be most apt to be protective of you."
    Tarla still didn't believe the women needed men with them, but at least the major explained his reasoning rather than just giving an order, and unlike McKay, he was a superior officer. Besides, Willy and some of the other patients would probably prefer to be with the nurses. "Yes sir. I'll select ten to take with us."
    Before going their separate ways, Geoffrey had one last thing to say. "I want to assure you both that, although I have been a bit out of my element thus far, I am quite good at strategic planning. Once we gather sufficient information, I'm sure we will find a solution to this peculiar dilemma. In the meantime, I appreciate the assistance."
    Tarla thought it took quite a man to admit his weakness and decided right then that she liked the major. As she gathered the women and chose the men to stay with them, she noted that Logan put Wilkes in his own group and split up the other troublemakers. Though she abhorred the macho tactics he'd used so far to maintain control, she could see that his methods had some merit under the circumstances. But she wondered just how long Wilkes would be held off by hostile glares before he tested McKay's strength. Then again, maybe Wilkes was intimidated so easily because he'd already tested McKay and learned what Tarla had—that his rough appearance went all the way to the bone.
    "Now what?" Robin asked as soon as Tarla came near.
    "We follow the leader and pry anything out of his fuzzy mind we possibly can." She led her group to Duncan. "We're all yours, Duncan. Where to?"
    The elderly man beamed as he was surrounded by young ladies. "Used to work in the fields, but can't keep up any more. In the kitchen now, with the other old ones. Women's chores are all we're good for these days."
    Robin raised an eyebrow but Tarla quickly touched a finger to her lips. Duncan would never have heard of women's equality and this was not the time to explain it.
    A whinnying sound caught Tarla's attention and she turned to see several of the other groups climbing into horse-drawn wagons. "Where will they be going?"
    Duncan squinted at the wagons. "Could be the orchards. Plenty of ripe fruit needs picking. Corn's ready too. Could be either."
    Since Tarla couldn't see any orchards or fields, she guessed the farm was very large. "And what's beyond the farm?"
    Duncan started his slow hobble again. "Don't know. The farm land ends at the invisible wall."
    Tarla and Robin shared a skeptical glance. "You mentioned that before," Robin said. "Can you describe it?"
    "Can't describe something invisible. It's just there and you can't walk through it,